U.S. Intelligence -- Monumental Incompetence

“There simply is no condition or combination of conditions that can ensure the Defendant will not further disclose additional information still in his knowledge or possession."

“The damage the Defendant has already caused to the US national security is immense."

"The damage the Defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary.”

United States Justice Department lawyers 

Prosecutors argued in court filings that Teixeira poses a threat to national security and is a danger to the public  Associated Press

There have been quite a number of extraordinary situations where young Americans in a position of trust and working with sensitive intelligence have been able to copy highly classified U.S. military documents and release them to news agencies, exposing the U.S. and their allies to dangerous repercussions. The wonder is the obvious laxity of care taken to ensure that those issued with high security clearances are trustworthy and there exists no indications through careful background checks that they can be capable of releasing top secret documents to news sources, compromising and embarrassing American intelligence.

The latest of these scandalous and controversial releases by a 21-year-old unstable personality saw a large number of documents showing up on social media sites by a politically-motivated and emotionally unstable man who was furiously trying to impress individuals he had met on questionable online sites where an underworld of racist, immature, politically-grudging people tend to gather. Jack Teixeira's most immediate focus in copying and posting military documents of high security value was to draw attention to his conceit of being employed as a trusted high security employee with access to data of such sensitivity as to cause awe in the opinion of those whose admiration he sought.

That he was able to access the documents, to copy them and to post them and though incriminating himself as a traitor to his country, no red flags went up to alert the appropriate authorities only speaks to their lack of adequate and appropriate caution, both in hiring the man, in allowing him the security level that gained him access to the files and in failing to follow up to ensure there were no irregularities. A total lack of concern led to oblivion over the man's presence on those social media sites; had they been detected the revelations would have disqualified him from his position.

 

Instead the Massachusetts Air National guardsman was enabled to play with high security documents as though they were baseball cards to impress his social media colleagues. In the process laying bare for any interested, foreign and/or potentially hostile entities to have complete access to intelligence that would never otherwise be revealed to unauthorized eyes. Classified secrets available, through the juvenile conceit of an unreliable employee to anyone astute enough to recognize their value.

 

So why would a 21-year-old be given that level of high security clearance to begin with? Investigating authorities still have no firm idea of how much and what has been hoisted by the man, believing he may have still in his possession other material, not yet released which could have "tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbour and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States", according to federal prosecutors.

 

Revelations that the Air Force suspended the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron Commander where Teixeira worked along with the administrative commander "overseeing the support for the unit mobilized under federal orders" until further investigation reveals closer details is certainly merited. Each of these leaders' access to classified systems and information has also been temporarily removed. Given the serious nature of the situation these actions should put a permanent barrier in the advance of their career paths. 

The release of these documents to public scrutiny and whatever fallout occurs in the near future places the U.S. in the rather uncomfortable position of failing the test of confidence in its intelligence relationship with Britain, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada in the Five Eyes Intelligence group. If the United States could be so negligent with its document security that involves its other partners in intelligence, who can be trusted as an ally in a world growing ever more hostile and dangerous?

Teixeira, it is now being revealed, had a troubled and troubling background. What happened to the necessity of background checks that would divulge these unstable characteristics? At high school he was suspended when a classmate overheard him discussing Molotov cocktails and other weapons. There were also racial threats reported. According to prosecutors, more recently he used his government computer to research mass shootings and standoffs with federal agents. This was a stink bomb ready to be triggered.

He has been charged under the Espionage Act with unauthorized retention and transmission of classified national defence information, although he has not entered a plea as yet. His lawyers, however, urge the judge to release their client from prison. Their argument was that appropriate conditions could be set, even if the court finds him to be a flight risk. They sound as logical as their client is psychologically stable.